


Chance

by angededesespoir



Series: Merfolk AU [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Aquaphobia, Depression, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Merfolk AU, Minor Injuries, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Other, Pnigophobia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Suicidal Ideation, Survivor Guilt, blood mention, some OoCness perhaps
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 08:06:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10872645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angededesespoir/pseuds/angededesespoir
Summary: Reinhardt and Jack are swimming around the world together, set on creating a new life for themselves, away from the community that turned against Jack.  They stop to temporarily nest in an area.  There, Jack stumbles across a human man that catches his interest.





	1. Sighting

**Author's Note:**

> _Prompt: "So, I found this waterfall." - from this[Meme](http://angededesespoir.tumblr.com/post/160503536275/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you)._
> 
> _*Bursts in* Nobody told me that it was Mermay! I keep meaning to work on my Merfolk AUs. :P Here’s one that just came to mind._
> 
> _(Also on[Tumblr](http://angededesespoir.tumblr.com/post/160518397010/chance-ch-1).)_

The steam rises steadily and Reinhardt basks in the warmth, the water bubbling up gently against both flesh and scale. To find a hot spring was always a glorious occasion. 

He sighs, stretching one arm out on the rock behind him, the other moving around Jack’s shoulders, pulling him close.

Jack cozies up to him, humming, flicking his tail energetically. He hasn't seen him look this genuinely happy in a long time.

“What has got you so excited, Mein Liebling?”

“Well...as you know, I was exploring the river today.”

“Mmmmhmmm. Und?”

“So, I found this waterfall. The biggest I’ve ever seen, Rein. And-” He fidgets, pausing.

“Ja?” he asks, intrigued.

“There was a man there, Rein! Sitting nearby, on the shoreline.”

He can’t help but tense, suddenly anxious as a wave of unwanted memories comes to him. He fights the urge to trace the scar on his face. The one he had never told his partner the true origin story of. 

He had been alive a lot longer than Jack, seen too many things, lost too many friends.

“Did he see you?” He tries not to sound too worried.

Jack shakes his head, a small frown forming. “No. I didn’t want to startle him, and I was a little nervous, too, so I hid myself, watched from a distance. I think he was resting. He looked really tired. Had a lot of mud on him, too.” 

Jack tips his head back, resting against his partner’s arm as he gazes at the clouds and tree tops, lost in thought.

“He had a beautiful voice,” he muses. “ It was soothing. Made me want to come closer just to hear it. He knew a lot of animal calls, too. He kept trying to communicate with the birds. He fed some seeds to this one that landed near him. Some type of blue bird. It was gorgeous. I wonder what kind it was. I’d never seen it before.”

He shifts slightly, looking up at Rein. “The man seemed nice. Not at all like the ones the elders talk about. I wish you had seen him. I wish we could have interacted. I feel like we could have learned a lot from him and he from us.”

“Jack.....” He cups his face, presses a kiss to the younger’s forehead. “Meine Perle, you have to be more careful. The elders tell those stories for a reason.”

Jack clutches at the hand. “I know, but Rein, not everyone’s like that. We can’t trust blindly, sure, but just because human’s are different from us doesn’t automatically make them bad.” 

“I know, Liebling, and I agree. I just worry that you’ll get hurt. Sometimes you get too eager, jump at opportunities without thinking them through.”

Jack quirks an eyebrow. “So do you. At least I’m not the one who got stung by twelve jellies at once.”

“Ah, you wound me! Your words hurt worse than their sting!”

“But it’s true.”

“Ja. Ja, it is.”

The atmosphere shifts back, flooded with the seriousness of the matter.

He peers into Jack’s eyes, thumb brushing against his cheek, tail loosely twining with his. “He seems nice, ja. I’d like to believe he’d react well. But there’s no way to tell unless you try.”

“Then...why don’t we try? If he comes back while we’re still nested here.”

Reinhardt hesitates for a second, conflicted. The look in Jack’s eyes is enough, though. “Only if I’m by your side. Understood?”

“Of course.” Jack’s arms lace around his neck, scales scraping against skin as he pulls himself a little higher, planting a kiss on his lips. “Thank you, Rein. It means a lot.”

“Bitte, Meine Perle. I only want you to be happy. That’s why we left, ja?”

Jack let’s his body slip slightly, curling tighter around Reinhardt, head pressing against his chest. He nods. “Yeah. I appreciate all you’ve done for me. You didn’t have to go this far.”

Reinhardt wraps his arms around him, tail and fins swaying, keeping them above the surface. 

“Nein, I did. I wouldn’t let them hurt you, Jack.”

His gills flutter as Jack presses his lips to his neck, rests his head against him, again. 

“There’s no one among our kind that I’d trust more than you or...or Ana. If she were still alive. Rein....I’m sorry if I’m a dreamer, but it helps. It gives me hope.” 

He watches him bite at his lip, teeth sharp, digging in. He senses the storm of emotion, the one Jack always tries to hide behind a sunny façade.

“I miss my family. I miss my home.”

“Jackie,” he smooths his hand through Jack’s hair, not sure how to ease his mate’s pain, nor his own. “I know, I know. But at least we still have eachother.”

“Yeah.” The voice is soft. “I count my blessings.”

“As do I.”

They lapse into silence, pressed against eachother, water warm and bubbling. The birds chatter above them, but it’s like they’re the only two on Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Uh, this was only meant to be a ficlet, but my brain decided to turn it into a multi-chaptered fic., instead. How long this will be and where it will go is currently unknown to me._
> 
>  
> 
> _Still trying to figure out how to write these characters for this AU, so they may seem a little OOC at first._


	2. Look to the Sky- It is Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Whelp, My mind was stuck on this, so here's a sudden update. This went darker than originally planned when I got to the second half._   
>  _~~Time to rip some hearts out, including my own.~~ Please be careful reading this if you’re not in a good place rn._
> 
> _(Also on[Tumblr](http://angededesespoir.tumblr.com/post/160553949340/chance-ch-2).)_

He winces as she sanitizes the wound- cuts stinging and bruised flesh protesting the pressure.

“Angela, is this really necessary? It’s just a scrape.”

“Yes, yes it is! You’re always off getting yourself hurt.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It is! I wish you would be more careful. You’re going to wind up with an infection- or, God forbid, worse!”

“Hey- I’ll try to be more careful, okay? But it was just an accident.”

“It always is.” He winces again at the frustrated tone and the application of the bandage. "One of these days I’m worried I’ll wake up and find a lion gnawing on you or a giant squid pulling you to the briny depths.”

Gabe laughs. “Come on, Angie. Give me more credit than that. I’m as careful as I can be, but we’re here to observe creatures. Some less than ideal encounters are bound to be expected.”

“Yes, well, do you think you can keep those ‘less than ideal encounters’ to a minimum, please? We only have so many supplies and, more importantly, I hate seeing you hurt. Even if it’s something as minor as this.”

“Hey...” He waits until she looks up before he pulls her into a gentle hug. “I’m sorry for making you upset. I didn’t mean to. I’m thankful for everything you do, not just for me, but for the others. And I’ll try to be more careful, so you don’t have to worry as much.”

He lets her go and she shifts back, a little flustered, hand toying with her hair. “Thank you. And...It’s fine. Now,” she clears her throat and moves to pick up her supplies, “I really should get back to work. Try to stay out of trouble, and rest well.”

“You, too, doc.”

He waits until she's gone. Sighing, he rolls his pant leg down and pulls himself up from the mossy log. He winces as he puts weight on his ankle. He hadn’t mentioned it seeing as how distressed his friend already was. He would take care of it himself. The injury wasn’t that bad afterall.

He limps back to camp, careful to avoid everyone. He sits in front of his tent, gazes up at the sky. He has never seen the stars so bright, the moon so full.

“You would like it here, Pa,” he whispers.

\--

He bursts up, breathing heavily, tail thrashing in the seaweed. Several fish dart away in alarm, leaving him for the darkness which stretches out before him. A crab scuttles from their nest and Jack flinches, His webbed hand rubs at his chest, feeling the deepest of the scars as he tries to get his bearings.

He can still taste the blood and can’t quite tell if it’s real or just the whispers of a memory.

His limbs are shaking, tail beating anxiously, gills rapidly opening and closing.

He looks down at his mate, worried that he had disturbed him, but Rein is still asleep beside him, peaceful. A fish shimmies through his hair, blowing a bubble.

He might have smiled at the sight at another time. Not now. 

Now he’s scrambling from their nest, propelling himself to the freedom of the surface. He clutches to the first rock he can find, pulls himself up to perch there.

It’s harder to breathe up here, especially if he plans to be out of the water for more than a few minutes, but somehow it calms him. It always felt less threatening than the sea, where so many of his kin would kill him simply for the beliefs he held and the dreams he had.

He curls up on the rock, shivering. The moon hangs high overhead, bathing him in light. He closes his eyes to shut it out. 

It reminds him of Ana. Of her poems and riddles and late night talks.

It reminds him of the night he was left with a void he could never fill. Someone snatched away too soon.

He lets out a shuddering breath.

He does not cry.

\--

An hour later, Rein is peeling him from the rock, submerging him. 

He does not protest. Even if he wanted to, he’s too weak. His breathing is shallow and his scales soak up the water eagerly.

His mate does not scold him, does not lecture him. He holds Jack close, loose enough so he can breathe. He presses kisses to his face and Jack can hear the murmurs of speech, can hear the tone of worry and pleading, even if he can’t process the words.

He does not open his eyes. He cannot bear to see the tears in his mate’s eyes, again. Cannot bear to see how he’s hurt him once.

He brushes his tail against the other’s, weakly rubs a hand on one of the arms that holds him.

He is alive. And he is sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _.....I have no clue how to write happy, so I must always inevitable revert to sad and painful._   
> 
> 
> _~~Also- how does one write multi-chapter stories??? *Stares into the Void*~~   
>  _
> 
> _Also, some clarifications (in case it's needed):_  
>  \- Mercy has feelings for Gabe. Gabe knows this (though she hasn't confessed to him yet), but sees her as just a friend.  
>  \- Mercy and Gabe are part of a group of Scientists who are out studying and documenting ecosystems and species.  
>  \- It wasn't exactly Jack's intention to try and kill himself. He's in a dark place and sometimes in his need to escape, he makes rash decisions that could kill him. He also struggles w/ his will and desire to live due to his guilt over Ana's death. He feels that it should have been him who died, not her.


End file.
